1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to mobile terminals and more particularly to techniques by which portable terminals may connect to Bluetooth devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the use of portable terminals has sharply risen due to a number of factors such as improved technology and functionality and reduced cost. Thus, service providers and terminal manufacturers are competitively developing portable terminals having more convenient functions to secure many users.
For example, today's portable terminals provide a phonebook, games, a schedule managing function, a Short Message Service (SMS), a Multimedia Message service (MMS), a Broadcasting Message Service (BMS), an Internet service, an electronic mail (e-mail) service, a wake-up call, an MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3), a digital camera, etc.
More recently, portable terminals have become equipped with an emerging variety of functions such as a headset function, a music function, a printing function, and a file transfer function through the Bluetooth protocol. Bluetooth is a short range communication technology between devices to replace cables that would otherwise be used to communicate.
The Bluetooth protocol utilizes the master-slave concept, where a Bluetooth-capable device (herein, “Bluetooth device”) can operate as a master and/or a slave. A device operating as a master is in control of communications and can communicate concurrently with up to seven slaves using time domain multiplexing (TDM). A portable terminal typically operates as a master, so as to communicate with slave devices such as a wireless headset or a printer. Herein, a Bluetooth device that typically operates as a slave, such as a headset or printer, will be referred to as an “accessory”. In cases where a portable terminal communicates with another master-capable device such as another portable terminal or a desktop PC, the other device will be referred to as a “peer” device or terminal.
To wirelessly communicate with another Bluetooth device, the portable terminal first searches for the presence of other Bluetooth devices, where each is equipped with a Bluetooth module. In this process, the portable terminal transmits inquiry signals at Bluetooth frequencies and ascertains if suitable responses are received. Upon receiving a response, the portable terminal performs a pairing process of to verify it is possible to communicate with a “discovered” Bluetooth device. When successfully paired, the portable terminal has a communication authorization state and starts communication with the paired device.
A process of connecting with each discovered Bluetooth device is as follows. The portable terminal searches for the presence of Bluetooth devices capable of connecting with the portable terminal, discovers devices and generates a list of the discovered devices on the portable terminal display. The list allows a user to select one or more of the discovered Bluetooth devices to be connected (paired).
As described above, the portable terminal allows the user to select a Bluetooth device to be used on the list for the discovered Bluetooth devices capable of connecting with the portable terminal. The portable terminal communicates with a selected Bluetooth device and performs a service corresponding to the device.